Several months ago, Jenkins mentioned to his editors that he wanted to pursue a big story about the next phase of LeBron James' career. "We told him to go for it," said Stone. But the magazine didn't "place big money" on it actually coming to fruition, he acknowledged.

Then last Saturday, Jenkins, who was flying to Cleveland on Friday afternoon when Ad Age spoke with Stone and Sports Illustrated editor-in-chief Paul Fichtenbaum, emailed his editors saying the story was a possibility. Out of caution, he didn't mention James' name in the email.

"The first thing we asked is whether there were any conditions attached," Stone said. "There were none."

On Wednesday, Jenkins traveled to Las Vegas. He met with James on Thursday night before writing the essay with him. Jenkins emailed the essay to his editors around mid-morning on Friday. "Everyone reading it was learning the news for the first time," Stone said.

The magazine, which introduced a top-to-bottom redesign of its website last month, alerted its technology team that a big story would soon publish. That way they'd be prepared for the extra traffic. They weren't told, however, what the big scoop was about.

Only about six Sports Illustrated staffers saw the piece before it went live, according to Stone, who had worried it would somehow leak.

"I can't tell you how stressful the last 24 hours were," he said. "There were a lot of smart, good reporters pursuing this story."

For the Cavs, he’s every bit as valuable off the court as he is on it.

For the city, he’s a global superstar who adds to the region’s profile.

Just don’t depend on James for anything more than that, said Tom Waltermire, CEO of Team Northeast Ohio, the regional business attraction nonprofit.

“It’s crazy to try to base an economy on an athlete or team,” Waltermire said. “An individual athlete has a playing span, and even teams can be temporary.”

Waltermire said James’ presence, as it did during his initial tenure with the Cavs from 2003-10, brings a “terrific visibility” to the city — one that comes from increased national television exposure and more media coverage.

“When LeBron was here, there were a few hundred million people in China who got to know Cleveland,” Waltermire said. “There are beautiful live shots from the blimps, spinoff stories of communities’ comebacks that all get told because media come and they want to write things.”

David Gilbert, president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Positively Cleveland (the convention and visitors bureau), said, “Cleveland isn’t on the map to those folks in China” who are fans of the world’s best basketball player.

“That certainly makes a difference,” Gilbert said. “But I also think when we have winning teams, it does help boost our self-confidence. We are a deep-rooted sports town. The mood of our city often parallels the success of our sports teams. We take their success very personally.”

No longer 'abysmal'

Success has been very difficult to come by for the Cavs since James so famously spurned them four years ago.

They are 97-215 the last four seasons and have failed to make the playoffs each year. By comparison, in James’ final four years with the team, a run that included the franchise’s first-ever trip to the NBA Finals in 2007, the Cavs were 222-106 and advanced to at least the second of the postseason each season.

As the losses piled up, and fans’ frustrations with an organization that many felt squandered a nearly unprecedented run of luck in the NBA draft lottery, the Cavs’ attendance suffered.

The Cavs ranked 16th in the 30-team league in attendance with a per-game average of 17,329 in 2013-14. In 2011-12 and ’12-13, they ranked 19th and 22nd — a stark contrast to their seven consecutive years of being in the top 10 in attendance with James.

“From an employment standpoint, that’s great,” said Ned Hill, dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. “Some semiskilled people or low-income people who can do casual work can benefit (from the packed houses at Quicken Loans Arena).”

Hill said economic studies show “spending on sports in a community is just a reallocation of the entertainment dollar.” But, he cautioned, “LeBron is different because he’s such a special athlete. He gives Cleveland a global brand presence that is more valuable than the orchestra.”

Mark Klang, owner of Amazing Tickets Inc., a Mayfield Village broker, said the secondary ticket market for the Cavaliers was “abysmal” after James left in 2010.

That sentiment was backed up by Vivid Seats, a national secondary ticket marketplace. Prior to the 2013-14 season, the Chicago-based reseller released a report that said the Cavs had the lowest median ticket price of any NBA team.

Klang attributes the big drop in ticket demand to the Cavs’ constant losing, not James being in South Beach for four seasons.

“It isn’t because LeBron isn’t here,” Klang said before James announced his latest decision. “It’s because they haven’t performed well.”

Ratings juggernaut

In addition to increased attendance and demand for tickets, and the benefits the bigger crowds mean to surrounding businesses on game day, James makes a monstrous difference for the television audiences on Fox Sports Ohio.

In the two seasons prior to his selection at No. 1 overall by the Cavs in 2003, the team’s average local TV rating was 1.0 and 1.2, according to an industry source. That amounts to about 15,000 households per game.

In James’ first five seasons with the Cavs, the average rating and household numbers jumped to 5.15 and 78,000, respectively. In his final two seasons, the ratings ballooned to 8.67 and 8.55, with Fox Sports Ohio bringing in more than 130,000 households for each game.

Since James left, the Cavs’ ratings and household norms have been 3.45 and 51,000.

The increased viewership obviously means a jump in advertising dollars. And eventually, it could mean a significant bump in local TV rights.

Fox Sports Ohio’s contract with the Cavs, which Forbes estimated at $25 million per year, runs through the 2015-16 season.

If James, as he indicated in his essay, finishes his career with the Cavs, another large increase that would result is the value of the franchise.

Dan Gilbert isn’t looking to sell, but the return of James, his former nemesis, can only mean the Cavs — valued at $515 million by Forbes in 2014, a jump of $186 million from 2012 — might be more than a $700 million enterprise. Consider that the Milwaukee Bucks, with a 2014 estimated value of $405 million by Forbes, recently were sold for $550 million.

ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell calculated that James brought in an extra $60 million in regular-season ticket sales during his four years with the Heat.

Factor in the 47 home playoff games during James’ time in Miami, along with the Heat doubling their sponsorship revenues, merchandise sales and other forms of income, and Rovell wrote that he believes three years of James is worth more than $160 million to a team.

Come see the city

The extra seats filled by James results in an additional perk — out-of-town visitors are much more likely on nights the Cavs play at The Q.

Cavs spokesman Tad Carper told Crain’s prior to the 2009-10 season (the year before The Decision) that 76% of the team’s individual ticket sales in ’08-09 came from outside the Cleveland direct marketing area. Last season, more than 60% of the team’s single-game ticket sales were from outside Northeast Ohio.

But put all of the financial benefits aside for a second.

As the sports commission’s Gilbert mentioned, there is a feel-good aspect to James’ arrival that comes within days of Cleveland landing the Republican National Convention, and as Northeast Ohio is investing billions in development and receiving national attention that has nothing to do with the river burning or Art Modell taking away the beloved Browns.

“There absolutely is an enormous difference in the self-confidence and development of our community (since 2010),” Gilbert said.

Hill, the Cleveland State dean, is on the faculty of the South China University of Technology. In the fall of 2010, months after James broke Cleveland’s heart, he did a question-and-answer session at the university.

The first question: How does Cleveland feel about LeBron leaving?

“He’s a global brand,” Hill said. “When he’s affiliated with Cleveland, Cleveland becomes more than just one of the three C’s (with Cincinnati and Columbus).”

And it never hurts to have a marketing machine such as Nike, which James endorses, enter the equation.

“It’s a combination of having LeBron and Nike advertise your city for you,” Hill said.

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